'Either an Evangelizing Church or a Worldly Church’

In his speech to the General Congregation of Cardinals prior to the 2013 conclave,[1] the then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio said, “When the Church does not go out of herself to evangelize, she becomes self-referential and then sick. […] When the Church is self-referential, without realizing it, she believes she has her own light. She ceases to be the mysterium lunae and this gives rise to the most serious evil of spiritual worldliness. […] Simplifying, there are two images of Church: either the evangelizing Church that comes out of herself, […] or the worldly Church that lives in herself, of herself, for herself. This must illuminate the possible changes and reforms that will have to be made for the salvation of souls. Regarding the next pope, we need a man who is founded on the contemplation of Jesus Christ and on the adoration of Jesus Christ, who will help the Church to go out of herself toward the existential peripheries, and help her to be the fruitful mother who lives ‘the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing’.”

In these words there is already, in embryo, the program of Pope Francis. In this tenth year of his pontificate, we will now try to show how it is being realized, considering five main documents: three apostolic exhortations (Evangelii Gaudium [EG], 2013; Amoris Laetitia [AL], 2016; Gaudete et Exsultate [GE], 2018) and two encyclicals (Laudato Si’ [LS], 2015; Fratelli Tutti [FT], 2020).

‘From Where?’ Outgoing Church, field hospital, poor and for the poor

At the center of Francis’ thought is the Church, a Church that evangelizes and finds her reason for being in evangelizing. EG clearly affirms this. After a synod Francis had neither convoked nor directed, he was able to imprint a very personal signature on this document. He made it a  programmatic text, in full harmony with the teaching of Paul VI, who once proclaimed: “Evangelizing, in fact, is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists to evangelize.”[2] Francis took up the definition of the Church given by the Second Vatican Council, which placed at its center the “mission,” conceived according to the category of “sacrament,” deeply rooted in the most ancient tradition and too often forgotten in recent centuries.

The pre-eminence given to evangelization excludes a closed Church (self-referential). Francis clarifies this plainly when he calls for an outgoing Church, the work of which he summarizes in five verbs: “take the initiative” (primerea), “involved,” “supportive,” “bear fruit” and “celebrate” (EG 24).

The pope wants to face the internal problems of the Church through a “pastoral and missionary conversion” (EG 25); he speaks of “an urgent ecclesial renewal” with adequate means “for the evangelization of today’s world, more than for self-preservation” (EG 27). This orientation is found in the image of the field hospital: “I see clearly that the thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful, closeness, proximity. I see the Church as a field hospital after a battle. It is useless to ask a seriously wounded person if his cholesterol and sugar levels are high! One has to treat his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else.”[3]

This image is very much related to the theme of mercy, a mercy that must urgently engage to heal wounds. This theme is central in the life and spirituality of Jorge Bergoglio, and explains the convocation of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (from December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2016).

We must also remember the ardent desire Francis expressed to journalists after becoming pope: “How I would like a Church that is poor and for the poor!” This was not a rhetorical flourish of a naïve novice. This desire goes back at least to John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council.[4]

Subsequently, the formula was enriched with new nuances. For Francis, the option for the poor cannot be reduced to a form of welfarism (cf. EG 199), nor should it be reduced to ideological instrumentalization.[5] The poor should not be considered as the object of the Church’s action, but as its subjects; Christians are called to create the right conditions for the poor to become active agents. “For the Church, the option for the poor is a theological category rather than a cultural, sociological, political or philosophical one” (EG 198). It helps to understand God and the world from God’s perspective. The poor are the “hermeneutical place” from which to look at reality. Being friends of the poor means not only approaching them benevolently, but allowing ourselves to be evangelized by them (cf. EG 198). This is far from the paternalistic welfarism that has not infrequently characterized the charitable activity of Christians as individuals as well as ecclesial institutions.

‘Who?’ Church as community of all, synodal Church

The Church conceived by Francis is the Church formed by all believers. It is thus connected to the Council and its revalorization of the role of the laity (cf. EG 102). Two elements in particular should be highlighted.

In the first place, there is the criticism of clericalism, the real plague affecting the Church. Not only does it prevent the laity from assuming their proper role, but it also constitutes a perversion of the priestly ministry, which ceases to be one of service,  treating  the laity as “proxies.”[6]

Secondly, Francis points decisively to synodality as a renewed way of being Church. Synodality is an essential category.[7] Let us recall Francis’ speech on the 50th anniversary of the institution of the Synod (October 17, 2015), in which a change of perspective is manifested. The Synod is an institution, synodality is a way of being Church that is inspired by its etymology (syn-hodos, “walking together”). The synodal character is “a constitutive dimension of the Church.” It prevents the rigid separation between Ecclesia docens and Ecclesia discens. A synodal Church is “a listening Church.” The synod is “the point of convergence of this dynamism of listening conducted at all levels of the life of the Church.”[8] For Francis, synodality also constitutes “a strategy of action.” It has shaped the three synodal processes of his pontificate, with undoubted progress regarding ecclesial awareness and behavior.

‘How?’ A humanly mature spirituality within  the horizon of holiness

If we want everyone to be engaged, certain conditions must be respected. We can recall three of them: intense spirituality, holiness as a horizon, human and moral maturity.

Three great writings of Francis – EG, LS and AL – each conclude with a chapter dedicated to spirituality, which contrasts the mentality, widespread in the Church, according to which those in authority and power in some way should provide the solutions to problems. For Francis, the world is to be made better by everyone, together.  For a Christian this responsibility is closely related to a profound spirituality, aimed at letting the experience of God permeate one’s outlook on life and personal conduct.

The pope dedicated his apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate to the call to holiness in the contemporary world. He intended to bring the doctrine of the Church closer to the life of ordinary Christians. One should not think only of those who are beatified and canonized, for “the Spirit pours out holiness everywhere” (GE 6; the saints “next door,” GE 7). Francis considered this holiness in relation to two ancient heresies still present in the world, though their names are perhaps no longer so familiar: Gnosticism and Pelagianism.

Human maturity is needed for the Christian life and for personal morality. In this regard, the exhortation Amoris Laetitia is important, not only for the way it treats the issue of divorced and remarried persons, but also for the moral perspective with which it addresses this issue and its pastoral consequences. The pope mentions John Paul II and the “law of gradualness” (AL 295); he makes reference to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith when, with regard to euthanasia, he says that one must consider the imputability and responsibility of an action, taking into account the circumstances (cf. AL 302). But the fundamental category is “discernment”, “It is reductive simply to consider whether or not an individual’s actions correspond to a general law or rule, because that is not enough to discern and ensure full fidelity to God in the concrete life of a human being.” (AL 304). In dealing with complex human situations, morality and pastoral care must be in agreement.

Behind this position is Ignatian spirituality. Not only because discernment is referred to  several times here, but also because Francis takes up the humanist vision that animated St. Ignatius; at the center is the individual as an autonomous subject, capable of a personal and unrepeatable relationship with God. The nucleus of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius lies in seeking and  discerning what God expects from the exercitant.

‘What are we doing?’ Criticism and denunciation

Francis also adopts the language of denunciation. At times his words are harsh and  provocative. He criticizes the current socio-economic model as being exclusionary: “How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points? This is a case of exclusion.. […] We have created a ‘throw away’ culture which is now spreading. It is no longer simply about exploitation and oppression, but something new. Exclusion ultimately has to do with what it means to be a part of the society in which we live; those excluded are no longer society’s underside or its fringes or its disenfranchised – they are no longer even a part of it. The excluded are not the ‘exploited’ but the outcast, the ‘leftovers’” (EG 53).

The pope denounces “the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation […]. A new tyranny has been born, invisible and often virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules” (EG 56). He also criticizes attitudes that feed this economic system: idolatry of money, thirst for profit, unbridled consumerism.

Laudato Si’ denounces deviant anthropocentrism. It is at the origin of a  crisis, at once social and ecological (cf. LS 48; 49; 122; 137). Francis’ critique is not so much directed at anthropocentrism, a typical focus of modern thought, as at its distortion, which links all the spheres of human and social reality to the application of the technocratic paradigm, according to which the subject, thanks to technology, is able to dominate and transform the object as an external reality. This ends up imposing itself as the only way to conceive the relations between the human subject and surrounding reality. Consequently, the subject feels legitimized to follow no other criteria in relating to any object of interest, and in this way everything is instrumentalized, including the human person (cf. LS 101-136).

Related to this distorted anthropocentrism is the denunciation of individualism, which is highlighted in FT. One must think not only of the individual in the strict sense, but also of the “collective individual” (LS 89; 102). Individualism is not opposed to the collective, but to the “other,” to those who are considered different for whatever reason. Therefore, it is the absolute emphasis on  the particular (of the isolated individual or of the group). For Francis, manifestations of individualism are liberalism and populism (cf. FT 155), which he sees threats to the reality of the people, so central to his thought. Individualism leads to a recurring phenomenon in our societies, indifference to the other. In FT, with the long and inspired commentary on the parable of the Good Samaritan, Francis deplores the indifference of the priest and the Levite and criticizes those in our world who live enclosed in their own interests and indifferent to everything else (cf. LS 113).

The counterpoint to all these criticisms is the category of people. It is nourished by an anthropology that has deep Christian roots, focusing on the human person, sacred dignity, openness to others, willingness to share common projects, the ability to act creatively. It is the opposite of the isolated individual, closed in on the self, attentive only to private interests, incapable of opening up to the other, to what is different.

‘What is to be done?’ Inspiring categories

Taking action is important. However, one should not embrace mindless activism, but an attitude that we can summarize in four categories.

Joy is the effect of a profound experience of God, of an encounter with him, “when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being. Here we find the source and inspiration of all our efforts at evangelization. For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?” (EG 8). To evangelize is not so much a mandate imposed from without, but the normal reaction of those who have perceived the meaning of the Gospel and the encounter with Jesus, capable of transforming life. For this reason the pope, with subtle irony, criticizes Christians who “seem to have a style of Lent without Easter” (EG 6), those who have “constantly a funeral face” (EG 10), those who have no confidence in the message and turn into “disenchanted pessimists with a gloomy face” (EG 85).

Universal fraternity is based on love. The words of FT “do not claim to offer a complete teaching on fraternal love, but rather to consider its universal scope,” (FT 6),  a love that knows no frontiers  in a world marked by so many “frontiers” that separate peoples and social groups.

The encyclical Laudato Si’ is dedicated to the care for our common home. Creation is a gift from God for all (cf. LS 155; 232); the appropriate response to this gift is care, in contrast to the attitude that the modern world adopts in its relationship with nature (relying on the ability to dominate, which reinforces distorted  anthropocentrism). Francis, in line with current ethics, advocates care of  nature and of  one’s neighbor, especially the most vulnerable.

The pages on Christian spirituality (cf. LS 216-227) show what dimensions such care should take. They invite conversion, gratitude and gratuitousness, leading to “an alternative way of understanding the quality of life,” to “a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, capable of profound rejoicing without being obsessed with consumption” (LS 222), to a sobriety lived with freedom and with the awareness of being liberated (cf. LS 223).

All these inspiring categories are better understood, starting from the Christian experience of God, who is “mercy.” This is not always the idea that people have of God. The Jubilee of Mercy was aimed at renewing the ecclesial awareness of a merciful God. The documents which accompanied it – Misericordia et and Misericordiae Vultus – illustrate, in the pastoral and friendly  tone typical of Francis, the meaning of the mercy of God, and mercy as a disposition of the Christian and the pastor in the sacrament of confession. We see this in the chapter in AL that deals with problematic cases which create unease and malaise in many ecclesial environments (“Accompanying, discerning and integrating fragility”), and in the passage dedicated to the implications of  pastoral mercy (cf. AL 307-312).[9]

‘What is to be done?’ Operational strategy

We would now like to propose a strategy articulated in four points that are typical of Francis: inclusion of the excluded, integral ecology, dialogue, building community.

Inclusion of the excluded is the proposal of EG regarding the social dimension of evangelization. If this dimension is not duly included, the authentic and integral meaning of the evangelizing mission remains distorted (cf. EG 176). We note the opposition inclusion-exclusion. From the beginning of his pontificate Francis has denounced “an economy of exclusion and inequality” (EG 53). When he speaks of the evangelizing mission, he indicates for the Church the task of “social inclusion of the poor” (EG 186). Social inclusion could appear to be a mission that is not very “religious,” but Francis clarifies: “Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society,” (EG 187). To this end it is essential “to listen to the cry of the poor.”

The pope closely links social and environmental crises (cf. LS 137-142). They have a common cause. Integral ecology expresses the way Francis’ proposal intends to embrace both the human and social dimensions and the environmental dimension. So the term “ecology” is given a new and fuller meaning. The “common home” is not only the natural environment, but also the human environment. The harmony of the whole of creation is at stake (cf. LS 225).

Dialogue reflects Francis’ constant desire to draw close to the human person, to consider each person as the subject and not only the object of our action. Dialogue implies a human relationship in the full sense, between beings of equal condition, open to communication. The pope also identifies the components of dialogue: “Approaching, speaking, listening, looking at, coming to know and understand one another, finding common ground” (FT 198). Chapter six of FT is a serene and illuminating reflection on dialogue, its perversions and its conditions for authenticity.

Finally, there is an image to which Francis often refers, that of the “polyhedron,” which is contrasted with the sphere. While in the latter there is equidistance with respect to the center, in the polyhedron diversity dominates (cf. EG 236). The pope uses this image in his idea of building community. This must happen by integrating the richness of diversity, without imposing homogeneity, without reducing people to isolated individuals (cf. FT 144; 145; 190; 215). There is a clear reference here to the much deprecated individualism, which makes society an agglomeration of subjects incapable of interacting except to compete, and never to collaborate and build together.

An interpretation of reality

At the conclusion of this journey, we want to recall the four principles to which Francis often has recourse when considering reality. He listed them and explained them systematically in his first apostolic exhortation. They are: time is superior to space; unity prevails over conflict; reality is more important than the idea; the whole is superior to the part (cf. EG 222-237).

We will not dwell on each of these principles. For Francis, they are the signs that make us understand, in the complex society in which we live, how we are always threatened by the temptation to simplify. These principles are important in a reality that is marked by “bipolar tensions.” They serve not only to interpret it and better understand its dynamics and contradictions, but also to orient action, including the pastoral action of the Church. This is a theme on which Francis has reflected at length and which was already present in his writings of the 1970s. Today these principles help to better understand his thought and his action.[10]

* * *

Francis himself falls into the category of those whom he defines as “social poets,” “insofar as they have the ability and the courage to create hope where only disdain and exclusion appear.” In fact, “poetry means creativity,” which is needed more than ever in a Church too blocked by an inertia that makes it difficult for her to face the great internal and external challenges that are placed before her today.

DOI: La Civiltà Cattolica, En. Ed. Vol. 6, no.10 art. 8, 1022: 10.32009/22072446.1022.8

[1].      We learned of this intervention thanks to Cardinal Jaime Ortega, Bishop of Havana (Cuba), who referred to it in the Mass celebrated in the cathedral of his city on March 23, 2018. At his request, Bergoglio had given him the text of that “handwritten intervention, as he remembered it” (cf. https://tinyeurl.com/hpcy6z7h).

[2].      Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), No. 14.

[3].      A. Spadaro, “Intervista a Papa Francesco”, in Civ. Catt. 2013 III 449-477.

[4].      John XXIII used the expression “Church of the poor” in a radio message broadcast a month before the opening of the Second Vatican Council (September 11, 1962). Cardinal Giacomo Lercaro also referred to it in a memorable speech at the end of the first session of the Council (December 7, 1962).

[5].      Cf. R. Luciani, “La opción por los pobres desde una Iglesia pobre y para los pobres”, in Medellín, No. 168, April-May 2017, 347-374.

[6].      Cf. Francis’ reflections in his March 19, 2016, letter to Cardinal Marc Ouellet, president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

[7].      S. Madrigal, De pirámides y poliedros. Señas de identidad del pontificado de Francisco, Santander, Sal Terrae, 2020, 93.

[8].      Francis, Address, October 17, 2015.

[9].      Already in his first Angelus message  (March 17, 2013), commenting on the Gospel of the adulteress (which is read on the fifth Sunday of Lent), Francis quoted W. Kasper’s book, which would later come out in English as Mercy. The Essence of the Gospel and the Key to Christian Life (Mahwah, NJ, Paulist, 2014): a book, said the pope, that “did me so much good.” And he added that mercy changes the world: “A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just.”

[10].    On the origin, development and references of these principles, cf. J. C. Scannone, “Cuatro principios para la construcción de un pueblo según el Papa Francisco”, in Stromata 71 (2015) 13-27.